This has been a huge waste of my time...and I apologise for this
Please don’t apologise. Every designer will try something that doesn’t work, it’s part and parcel of the graphic design process. Nobody is immune, take Martin Lambie-Nairn for instance: the original brief for BBC One’s 1991 rebrand was a big ‘ONE’ with a globe inside the O, for instance. He went back and worked on it further, and ultimately came out with the smokey globe and serif numeral, which stayed on-screen for 6 years.
I also remember seeing some concept art courtesy of Red Bee for BBC One’s 2006 rebrand, and they were all very noughties-flavoured, some resembling the BBC Breakfast titles of the era, and wouldn’t have stood the test of time at all. (I can’t find the link now unfortunately, but it’s certain to be around somewhere).
You tried an idea out, thought it looked good enough to get some feedback and it hasn’t been favourable. But you gave it a go. That’s alright.
For what it’s worth, I agree with Jon in that the ITV lettering is inherently difficult to work with and make look nice. The current logo is absolutely the best iteration thus far, followed (quite distantly) by the 2005/06 logo which, while a bit bland, looked far more visually appealing than its rather ugly “digital” 1998/99 and serifed 1989 counterparts.